People Watch
School Administrator, February 2020
Alison Brynelson
After 22 years with the 15,000-student Mukilteo School District in Everett, Wash., Alison Brynelson has been named its new superintendent. Brynelson most recently spent three years as the district’s deputy superintendent, and she also served as assistant superintendent, executive director of secondary schools, director of student services and principal of Voyager Middle School. An Alaska native, she earned her doctorate degree in executive leadership from Seattle Pacific University. Brynelson has been a member of AASA since 2016.




Mark A. Holodick
After 10 years as superintendent of Brandywine School District in Wilmington, Del., Mark Holodick is moving to the University of Delaware, where he earned his Ed.D. in educational leadership. He’ll serve as the senior leadership specialist for the Delaware Academy for School Leadership. Holodick previously was a principal and teacher in the Brandywine system and a principal in Delmar, Del. Holodick was Delaware Superintendent of the Year in 2017. He has been a member of AASA since 2009.




Susan Keema
The new executive director of the Nevada Association of School Superintendents is Susan Keema. Before joining the 18-district Nevada organization last July, Keema served in the Carson City, Nev., School District as associate superintendent for educational services for 12 years and earlier filled roles as elementary school principal, assistant principal and dean of students. During her 37 years in education, she also worked as a home economics teacher in Nevada’s Elko County School District and Clark County School District. Keema has been a member of AASA since 2019.

 


Lesli C. Myers-Small
The Brockport, N.Y., Central School District has bid farewell to its superintendent of eight years as Lesli Myers-Small was appointed assistant commissioner of school reform and innovation with the New York State Education Department. Previously, she spent five years as assistant superintendent of student services in Ithaca, N.Y., and held several central-office positions in Greece, N.Y., and Rochester, N.Y. Myers-Small has an Ed.D. in executive leadership from St. John Fisher College in Rochester, N.Y. She joined AASA in 2012.

 


Thomas M. Sisk
Tom Sisk is the new director of the Bristol City Schools in Bristol, Tenn. Sisk spent the past eight years as superintendent in Limestone County Schools in Athens, Ala., after serving for nine years as supervisor of human resources in Baldwin County, Ala., School District, where he also worked as an assistant high school principal and teacher. He got his start in education as a special education coach, wrestling coach and assistant football coach in Prince George’s County, Va. Sisk joined AASA in 2012.




Curt L. Tryggestad
In a return to the school district where he first served as a principal, Curt Tryggestad is now superintendent of Pine City, Minn., Public Schools. Tryggestad most recently was the executive director of the Perpich Center for Arts Education in Golden Valley, Minn., for two years. Previously, he served as superintendent over 14 years in Eden Prairie, Little Falls and Esko, all in Minnesota. A former two-term member of the AASA Governing Board and 2017 Minnesota Superintendent of the Year, he joined AASA 17 years ago. Tryggestad earned his Ed.D. from St. Cloud State University in Minnesota.





APPOINTMENTS
Darryl Aikerson, from director of federal programs, Bessemer, Ala., to superintendent, Tuscumbia, Ala.
Daniel Bowles, from associate superintendent for teaching and learning to superintendent, North Syracuse, N.Y.
Thomas Brindley, from assistant superintendent to superintendent, Oneonta, N.Y.
Eleanor DiMarino-Linnen, from acting superintendent to superintendent, Rose Tree Media School District, Media, Pa.
Jeff Edwards, from superintendent, Nebraska City, Neb., to superintendent, Northwest Public Schools, Grand Island, Neb.
Matt Fisher, from superintendent, Northwest Public Schools, Grand Island, Neb., to consultant, First National Capital Markets, Omaha, Neb.
Mary Grow, from assistant superintendent for instruction to superintendent, East Irondequoit Central School District, Rochester, N.Y.
Holly Hageman, from assistant superintendent to superintendent, Regional School District 17, Higganum, Conn.
Norman Miller, from assistant superintendent to superintendent, Central Dauphin School District, Harrisburg, Pa.
Douglas Silvernell, from assistant superintendent, Saratoga Springs, N.Y., to superintendent, Cambridge, N.Y.
Georgia Teppert, from assistant superintendent to superintendent, Latrobe, Pa.


RETIREMENTS
Brent Depeé, superintendent, School of the Osage, Lake Ozark, Mo.
Marci Larsen, superintendent, Mukilteo School District, Everett, Wash.
Ross Renfrow, superintendent, Johnston County Public Schools, Smithfield, N.C.
Cathy Taschner, superintendent, Coatesville Area School District, Thorndale, Pa.


HONOR
Karl V. Hertz, AASA past president, received Mequon Community Foundation’s Pillars of the Community award, Mequon, Wis.


DEATHS
Judith Lockley Johnson, 80, retired superintendent, Peekskill, N.Y., Oct. 22
Cathy MacLeod, 64, retired superintendent, Hopkinton, Mass., Nov. 2
Cara E. Murtagh, 44, superintendent, Peabody, Mass., Nov. 29
Katherine Sabo, 51, superintendent, Norwood, Ohio, Oct. 5

 

News about AASA members’ promotions, retirements, honors and deaths should be addressed to: Editor, School Administrator, 1615 Duke St., Alexandria, VA 22314. Fax: 703-841-1543. E-mail: magazine@aasa.org